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SCUTTLEBUTT 2045 - March 7, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.GUEST EDITORIAL I was privileged to be the PRO at three major events this past January and February; the 470 North Americans, a circle at the OCR, which was the circle asked to do the last day Medal Races, and the Yngling and 49er North Americans. All sailed on beautiful Biscayne Bay, in Miami, one of the best venues in the World After the three regattas were over, and the conversations began on Scuttlebutt about changing racing for the TV cameras, and how to attract more viewers, etc., I came to an interesting conclusion. Those three regattas were loaded with former and present World Champions, Olympic medalists and contenders, 610 sailors from 40 countries. It was great racing xxxxx and should have been a viewers' paradise. But, where were they? There are 6 major Sailing and Yacht Clubs on Biscayne Bay, Who more than their members would want to see the World's best have at it in their backyard.? However, I can assure you that the spectator fleets were mighty sparse. Other than coach boats, and a few other boats connected with competitors, very few came to the show. There were plenty of weekend days and a Holiday to boot, so work can't be used as an excuse. The only day I saw a number of spectators was the morning we did the Medal Races, the first time in North America and only the second time tried in the World. And many of those boats were Race Committee boats coming off the other circles who had run consolation races, and photo boats. But by the start of the last three heats, most of them had gone in. Of course the newspaper coverage until the end of the regatta was also woefully lacking. The point here is rather simple. If we can't attract those who should know and appreciate good racing, on their own venue, how are we going to attract non sailors to watch on TV? Having sailed and worked regattas all over this country, these events were not an exception. Perhaps only in Opti or other Junior events, where the parents are captive, do I see large crowds watching. Also exceptions can be made for the novelty events such as Tall Ships, or the finish or start of a major event down under, where sailing is a passion. But not in the good old US. I strongly believe that trying to gimmick up our sport to boost TV ratings is a mistake. The medal race is a good example. To place so much on a 30 minute sprint after days of grinding out sailing in the traditional manner, does not improve our game and is not going to help ratings. If sailed in light winds, it is no more exciting to a non-participant than any other race preceding it. Perhaps in a good breeze , which we had at the OCR, it may be more exciting ala NASCAR. But is a couch potato going to watch all 11 events? I doubt it. The tight finish reach on the Trap hasn't increased viewers, any more than the Medal Race will. Unless we wish to have all classes as fast and as interesting as the 49er or Tornado, we're what we are. And perhaps that's just fine. The Star is still a beautiful thing to watch. ~ Terry Bischoff AND THE WINNER IS . . . The City of Estoril in Portugal has won the bid to host the ISAF 'Sail the World Festival' and 'Sailor of the Century Awards' on September 1-2, 2007 marking the highlight of the ISAF Centenary celebrations. Over 35 cities from around the world registered their interest with ISAF to host THIS celebration, and 20 of these cities from twelve countries proceeded to the bidding stage to act as Host City. Each of the cities demonstrated the expertise necessary to host an event of this calibre, whilst also proposing extended initiatives and programmes, embracing the cultural, social and educational aspects of sailing. After a rigorous selection process Estoril made it through to the final stage to be selected as the host city. The bid from Estoril demonstrated a commitment to partner with ISAF to deliver the vision for the ISAF Centenary Celebrations that far exceeded all others. ~ http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?PID=17702 DRYSHIRT DEALERS WANTED - WORLDWIDE The Dryshirt has officially become a phenomenon. They sold out at Key West Race Week and every other event where they have been offered. Technical apparel is leading the sales in the garment industry like never before and the Dryshirt sales are off the chart. We want your company, club, institution, or event to offer this unique and remarkable product to customers and sell out as well! Private label graphics available. Call 1(800) 354-7245 or (562) 594-8749 (outside of US) to learn more about becoming a dealer or distributor for this remarkable product, or E-mail us at SailingProShop@aol.com LIGHT WIND ALL THE WAY TO THE FINISH Movistar is back in the water after some hectic last 12 hours. "Hectic because the weather was awful, blowing like hell, squalls up to 45 knots, and freezing cold rain (it was snowing just above us in the mountains), so lots of delays before the final laminates could go on to finalize the repairs," skipper Bouwe Bekking explained. "We have made a 'simple' repair, and this means that the keel will stay in the center for this trip. We lose some time during the trip, but gaining lots of time getting movistar back in the water, which means in the end a longer repair period in Rio." The race office was also informed that movistar has withdrawn both protests against ABN Amro Two (Sebastien Josse) and Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) which were submitted ashore during the stopover in Wellington and one after the re-start in Wellington. The over all picture is for very light wind all the way to the finish which could still be five days away. As the fleet stays tightly together, it could still be anyone's race. An early lead now could so easily dissolve into a deficit in the light and fluky winds usually found off Rio de Janeiro, not a comforting thought for race leader ABN Amro One and Mike Sanderson as he sits helpless with no wind and watches the fleet closing in on him. ~ www.volvooceanrace.org Volvo Ocean Race Positions at 2200 GMT Monday 1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 943 miles to finish 2. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, +19 miles 3. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, +21 miles 4. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, +27 miles 5. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, +74 miles 6. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, +1149 miles CHOW TIME So what exactly does an America's Cup team eat? In the follow excerpt, chef Vinny" Vincenzo Stamilla of the Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team provides some insight. For breakfast at the base they have yogurt, cereals, breakfast pastries, biscuits, fruit, juices, prosciutto, cheeses, boiled eggs, and of course, the finest coffee. Being an Italian team, coffee is an essential throughout the day. The guys, "drink litres of coffee," explains Luca, "thankfully it is not considered as doping." It helps to get them through an intense morning right up to lunch. Lunch on the boat for each sailor consists of a 350gm serving of pasta- that's three times a normal person's serving, panino, fresh and dried fruit and nuts, juices, and lots of water. That is followed later by an afternoon snack. The criteria: easy to eat and easy to digest. (No lasagne out at sea on a hot summer day). Usually the only time they have to eat is on the tow out or tow back. For the shore team back at the base, it's an Italian feast that varies every day. There's always a pasta dish, a rice dish, two choices of meat, salads, grilled and cooked vegetables, cheeses, salume, fruit, and the occasional dessert. The quality is extremely important. Fruit and vegetables come fresh from the local market and the "essentials," like mozzarella, parmigiano, prosciutto, pasta, and many others, arrive directly from Italy from Ligabue, the official food purveyor and catere for Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team. The team chefs and Ligabue both work - in strict correlation with the team's doctors and trainer- to oversee the search and selection of the right kinds of food-especially food more adapted to sport activities. Together their objective is to balance sport and nutrition with the pleasures of Italian cuisine. ~ Blake Burkett Marabini, full story: http://www.mascalzonelatino.it/home/dettaglio_news.jsp?ID=298 LIGHTER, FASTER & MORE POWERFUL Words not usually used to describe instrument systems. Ockam is the leader in providing the most accurate real-time data available. The Pentium based Tryad processor combined with an available 3-axis rate stabilized compass paves the way in delivering a stable wind solution that takes the heel, pitch, and roll of the boat into account. With performance and weight in mind, all sensors interface close to their location allowing the information to stream unimpeded throughout the system's single cable "daisy chain" network. Thus eliminating heavy multiple cable runs and expensive junction boxes. To learn more, contact Ockam: mailto:lat@ockam.com BACARDI CUP - DAY TWO The father and son-in-law tandem of John Dane and crew Austin Sperry, sailing out of Gulfport, Mississippi, won Monday's second race at the 2006 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta co-hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club and the U.S. Sailing Center on the waters of Biscayne Bay. With a third place finish in Sunday's first race, today's victory assures them the overall lead going into the third of six races in the regatta. San Diego's Mark Reynolds, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who sails this week with Swedish crew Christian Finnsgard, finished fifth Monday and retains second place overall following his day one victory. ~ Janet Maizner, http://www.starclass.org/ Standings after two races - 92 Stars: 1. John Dane/ Austin Sperry (USA) 4 pts 2. Mark Reynolds/ Christian Finnsgard (USA) 6 pts 3. Marc Pickel/ Ingo Borkowski (GER) 10 pts 4. Peter Bromby/ Bill McNiven (BER) 11 pts 5. Rick Merriman/ Rick Peters (USA) 17 pts Curmudgeon's Comment: 2005 Star North American George Szabo is competing in the Bacardi Cup, and is sending his personal event reports to Scuttleblog. Read George's reports at http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/blog NEWS BRIEFS * "In recognition of the design, development and construction of high performance composite multihulls ", the Gilles Ollier Design Team and Multiplast have been awarded the 2005 small craft medal by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects of England. On April 26, the Gilles Ollier Design Team will be going to London to receive its award from the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. ~ www.rina.org.uk * Shosholoza is back in Valencia - the South African America's Cup Challenger was sailing for the first time, after a two month break from Spain. And taking over for the first time as the new skipper is Mark Sadler. Sadler, a winning dinghy and big boat skipper in South Africa, will also be facing the new challenge of leading the team for the first time. He replaces Geoff Meek - who stepped down because of shoulder and knee problems. Also on board is the new capacity of team manager, coach and tactician/ skipper Dee Smith. ~ www.teamshosholoza.com * The first new boat of the Italian Luna Rossa challenge has arrived in Valencia. After leaving last week on a ship, ITA 86 was transferred to the base by truck. The expectation inside the team was obvious with the shore crew awaiting the truck at the team base at the Port America's Cup. Now the Luna Rossa team will work on outfitting the boat with all of its hardware and rigging before taking it out on the waters off Valencia for tuning. The official presentation of the boat is scheduled for later in the month. ~ http://www.americascup.com/en/ * North Sails has partnered with expert meteorologist Chris Bedford and his team at Sailing Weather Services to provide free weather forecasts for Acura Miami Race Week from March 9-12, including a regatta overview forecast on Wednesday, March 8. To receive the daily forecasts via email, visit North Sails' online weather center: http://na.northsails.com/ * Emirates Team New Zealand is on the high seas. Race yacht NZL 84, the big tender, assorted chase and weather boats and 23 40-ft shipping containers are tucked away on board a container ship heading for Valencia. The team's base in Auckland is now empty. The team's logistic manager Ian Stewart says "Packing up a base of this size and complexity and shipping everything to the other side of the world was a daunting task. We have also shipped personal effects for close on 280 people." * The San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race ended last week, but photographer Mary Longpre just sent Scuttlebutt some photos of the start, and we opted to put a few up on the Scuttlebutt website. We particularly liked the one of Ragtime getting chased by an amphibious vehicle. Enjoy: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/pv * For the first time, IRC boats have been invited to participate in the Buzzards Bay Regatta (BBR) in Marion this summer, August 4-6. More than 400 boats are expected to compete in 15 classes. www.buzzardsbayregattta.com YOUR 30 MINUTES OF FAME Would you like a professional DVD of your boat racing this week at Acura Miami Race Week? Contact us to secure one of the few openings still available for the Miami regatta, or to make arrangements for your spring/summer season. Contact mailto:paul@pcsailing.net LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Scott Truesdell: With the exception of the 18' skiffs, watching sailing on TV is about as interesting as watching paint dry or watching grass grow. But ... if you record the race, then watch it at 4 times the speed it suddenly becomes much more interesting. Strategies, tactics and wind shifts become much more apparent. It brings a much better perspective to the sport. * From Brett Larson: Here is my idea after watching the Olympic slalom ski races. Yes, shorter races, have a normal start, but have a series of gates that all must pass through both upwind and downwind. Then the audience (and competitors) can see exactly where they stand in the race and it keeps boats closer together and keeps them engaged with each other - narrows the race course - and allows spectator boats to be a little closer too. How about windward / leeward courses with 3-4 gates 100-200 yards part depending on class. Top and bottom marks can also be gates.Something fun to experiment with. * From Ken Redler: To make sailing better for TV we just simply need to go back to when we had cannons onboard boats.There's nothing better for excitement than a big boom, a cloud of smoke, and a cannon ball whizzing through a competitor's sail.When I discuss sailing with my non-sailing friends, they all agree that they would like to see the crew swinging from the halyards with swords drawn and blades in their teeth.Also, there is nothing more appealing to TV audiences than shark infested waters.I mean, who wasn't glued to their TV when Fonzi was about to jump the shark? Furthermore, if sailing is going to improve its image, it needs to do away with Rule 14.What popular sport doesn't allow contact between competitors?Instead, we should make all boats be required to have outboard rudders.That way, a boat that is behind can spin out the boat ahead.A boat passing a spinning boat is easy for any layperson to understand.Finally, for sailing to really reach out to the masses we need to do away with multi-race events. Nobody knows math these days, so why bother with it.Instead just have one race where the gold medal goes to the first boat over the finish line or the last boat afloat.Now that makes for good TV! * From Dave White: I agree entirely with the latest comment concerning TV - personalities are indeed very important. However, one basic seems to be missing from all of this. Whenever someone asks me what sailboat racing is all about, my comment is always: " sailboat racing is like Chess on Water with Physics thrown in." Now I understand that neither Chess or Physics make exciting TV, but I think they both need to be explained (in basic terms of course) somewhere near the beginning of the broadcast. Chess relating to tactics, and Physics relating to speed. Perhaps that could help explain how tough sailboat racing can be. Chess is difficult to master as is Physics (at least for most people). Add in physical strength and you've really got something!! As we all know of course!! * From Earl Boebert: I was going through W.P. Stephens' book, trying to identify an old boat, and in the back of my mind was the recent discussion of the need for a television-friendly sailing event. You know, something simple, highly athletic, easy for the non-sailor to understand, thrills and spills, attractive to the extreme sports crowd.And there it was, in Chapter 3: Sandbaggers. Picture this: 30 ft LOA by 1.5 ft draft boat, all other dimensions unlimited, eight to ten solid citizens equipped with 80 lb waterbags. No winches, foils, or other mechanical aids. Flying starts for added spectacle. Given the frequency of capsize, you could even sell ad space on the bottoms of the boats.Can you imagine what the helicopter shots of a tacking duel would looklike? * From Steve Bodner: One way to make sailing (in the Olympic) exciting- have them in a windy location and put them close to shore to ensure a high profile event. I race windsurfers in the San Francisco Bay and can never get my friends,family, or co-workers interested in watching, Why- because we race windward leeward courses in the middle of the bay. No one can really see whats going on nor understand why one board goes to one corner and another board to the other corner! But in the last few years, something changed, We began to race slalom close to shore. The races are a minute long but full of high packed excitement. 5 or 6 marks- easy to understand. At the 2004 US Windsurfing nationals in San Francisco, there were hundreds of non sailors actually watching from Crissy Field and getting comentary from the announcers booth perched 20' up.Of course, you need some pretty spectacular conditions to race slalom. It isn't going to happen in the 2008 Olympics where light wind is expected. With that said, is the Olympics the pinnicle of our sport (at least windsurfing) ? Probably just as much as a kiteboarder on a 10' surfboard is the pinnacle of kiting! * From Mike Esposito: To correct a couple things about autoracing, they're rarely broadcast in prime time and it's even more rare that drivers die on the track.In the U.S., I defy you to find open-wheel (Formula 1 or Indy) racing at any hour. Races at NASCAR's safer superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega) draw more viewers than its short track races at, say, Bristol with constant banging and bashing.In fact, Fox carries the first half of NASCAR's Nextel Cup (ex-Winston Cup) season, then dumps the second half to NBC in favor of the NFL, which almost never has a death on the field.As for our game, dead sailors aren't going to draw TV crowds.Getting people to see sailing as something other than a snotty, rich-guy sport will.Expensive boats that break (AC or VOR), courtroom wrangling, and record-beater boats shattering times set by commercial craft a century ago all make sailing look like a sport where you buy your accolades.Once upon a time, sailing had a mystique: A language all its own, gentlemanly conduct enforcing rules even when nobody was looking, and embracing an archaic art.Now we logo-up like NASCAR, parse the rules like trial lawyers, and have engines running at all times like freighters.Toss in some pouting pros like any other sport and we're surely on our way.Woo-hoo, spring is almost here! CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION If money doesn't grow in trees then why do banks have branches? Special thanks to Sailing Pro Shop, Ockam Instruments, and PC Sailing. |
